Saturday, September 3, 2016

Snapshots from the Quai Bélu in Amiens. This favorite neighborhood bordering the Cathédrale Notre-Dame d'Amiens has reassuringly not changed much since the last time we were there. To know more about this curious sculpture, click here.

Friday, September 2, 2016

Replacement of the 11,000 square meters of the porous Carrara marble façade with granite plaques on the problematic Grande Arche at La Défense is a very big job. The French engineering and construction company which has undertaken the work, Eiffage, has had to come up with innovative solutions to assure the safety of the project, particularly where it concerns the inclined overhanging surface of the arch. To the pedestrian it looks as though two giant red clothespins are keeping the tympan pinched on. For a more accurate description of the feat, in French, click here.

Thursday, September 1, 2016

One word says it all: zut! English translations include "darn it," "blast," "rats," "dang it," "tarnation," "oh heck," "oh shoot," and whatever other mild interjection comes to your mind. C'est la rentrée simply means it's back to school time. When one says rentrée at any time from mid-summer on, it's understood to refer to la rentrée des classes, or the start of the new school year. While strolling the streets of Versailles last night on the eve of today's rentrée, I crossed the paths of tanned families in bermuda shorts unloading their cars, having just returned home from summer vacation. That's a real rentrée in every sense of the word.